Continuous-rail joint.



H. E. HOFP. CONTINUOUS RAIL JOINT. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30, 1909.

Patented Mar.22, 1910.

lgtitgam JAZ. M

sirn'rns PATENT our-non. l I m M FJ- i ko'nnnnz. GERM NY; I

continuousart -.Jorm- 952,994. Swansea; lett rslatnt. PatentedMan-22,1910.

' Application filed June to, 1999. Serial No. 505,273. V

To all whom it may concern:

- Be it known that I, HEINBICH- ERNST Horn, asubject of the tEniperorofGermanyfl and meeting abou at the center .of ear residing at Kobleng,Province of the Rhine, plate; The plate can be ffany. suitable 6Germany, have invented certain new and shape, form and di rlnensions,but 'should be useful 'Irnprovernents in Continuous-Rail the necessarythicknesa stren gth and'rnate ,Iomtsyand I do hereby declare thefollowrial (iron for i; stance) to for'rri the'ioint o ing to be a full,clear, and exact description the desired rigidity and durability to.$1215 tain the strains n'd stresses .9 the work to be carried there y.-In the specific. example illustrated, I-show plate greatiet'in widththan the ail bases so as to progect laterally beyond .h. rail basesyanat its l arsed b nea h nd n its na -i' rail ends with the railbaseiresting thereon of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This inyention relates ments in continuous rail'joints, and the ob--jectsand nature of my invention'willbe to certain irnprover I a Me s ar a me Wit a aireadily understood by those skilled in the tudlnalvertical flanges h, although 1 not rt in'the light of the iollowingexplanation wish to so lirnit the broad features o t of the accompanyi gdrawings illustrating vention. y z ,what'I now consider niy preferred enbo dic, a e nietal reinforcing bodies of ironor ment from among othermethods and 'struc other suitable metal a'rfan%led between tures withinthe spirit and scope of my inwebs-of the rail ends and t, e flanges h gi after the railshave been laid. ruelted .or fused together, or arewelded I structure more full and part cularly broad W5 .Wiillfiut b i gnite 't he 11$:

1 as the steel rails of an electric railway.

ventionthe ha r base pla e and testing long tu- It is an object of my.invention to-so ,unite dinally and about horizontally ,ont he the baseportions of the meeting ends of taces of the rail bases, and the railsas to produce an improved continuous jo n s niec in" edges f Q i w lasgsrail joint w ierein the rail heads will not be Two reinforcingQQllQS are usually arranged directly united but will retain theiroriginteach joint and o nopposite'si esp; the nal formation, temper anddensity or other webs. v l I desirable characteristics while the iootorIn the QQlllPlGtGtl .jjoi nt un ting the rall. s p rtions. of themeeting rail ends will ends, th fe t or basesoi'the We re' 99' 5 be(permanently .or' integrally united by the rail chair receiving thesame, an the, wel ing or fusin by a simple and eoononibodies laid onsaid ;rail feet ical niethodw'hic can hepasily performed the' junct onbetween the same, are 0 its 99.

The. invention consists in theinethod and gether, usin th t r 1d dpointed out and descri ed hereinafl er. of welding pressure. Therailieet, Ckltill Referring to the accompanying drawand reinforcingbodies are. fus d tpge, h'er ings:-Figur e 1 is a side elevation of theintoa practically homogeneous ntegral meeting ends of a pair ofrailsshowing the mass, but the; meeting ail end surfa cesare base orfish plate applied theretobefore the otherwise separate an disconnectedabove fusingheat is applied... Fig. 2, is a top plan said nass. p view,showing the joint after the top rein- In practicing 111%; nventlon, Iusually; forcing bodies have been applied and fused. scratch or cleanthe ases or feet of the meet- Fig. 3, is a longitudinal section on theline iug rail ends by any suitable means to rte- 'lnove rust and dirt,and locate the chair or 3-3, Fig. 2. Fig. 4:, is a cross section on theline 4-4, Fig. 3, and showing the combase I), underthe rail ends aboutas shown pleted joint. in Fig. l, with the rail ends spaced apart, Inthe drawings, I show the meeting ends of a pair ofrailway rails, suchfor instance,

say aboutone' sixteenth of an inch.

By the formation of an electricare 5 through the medium ofsuitableagenciesan in a manner well understoodby those skilled in theart, and restricted to the-rail bases. and the plate'or chair b, beneathsaid bases, I then fuse or wel'd together the rail bases Each rail is ofany ordinary or desirable construction or formationand is illustrated ofconventional form. with the base or foot 0,. the usual verticalweb a,and the top head a. and said chair, while maintaining the rail V b, is ainetal base, foot or lish plate ar-- heads cool by artificial means or.by the restricti'on of the welding or fusing te'mperaward bulging ofthe ends of their heads and i 'ture to the areas to be welded, that isto the the bulge portions can then beground down rail bases and the baseplate. While at by suitable grinders, I present advised by experience Iprefer to .The essential feature of the invention is to 5 employ anelectric are for producing the revent such changeinthe structuredensity, temperature desired, yet other means might ormation or temperof-the-usual steel rail be employed for producing the fusing, meltheads,asto reduce the efficiency or durabiling or welding temperature to whichonly ity thereof .or result in undue flatteningor the feet of the railsare exposed in connecwear thereof or; of the car wheels passing '7 10tion with the base plate while the rail heads thercover, such as resultswhere the nature or 4 are protected by the atmosphere or otherwisetemper of the rail heads is changed by the f 4 against such temperatureas vwill deletcheat of'casting or fusing joints as heretofore rlouslychan e the density, t'em r or nature racticed and furthermore bymyinvention thereof. While the electric" fiizing arc. is avoid theexpense and disadvantages in- 15 established and usuall after the railfeet, cident to the insertion of bridgepieces in the ends and a baseplate ave been thus fused, rail heads. I 1

metal rods (of soft iron, if so desired) are WVhile I have explained spfic steps that laid on the rail feet and across the junctions can befollowed in melting or welding .tobetween thesame and are melted orfused gether the meeting ends ofthe rail feet and I 20rto permanentlyweld the same to the rail, bracing the joint -by melting or welding Ifeet or to the mass of metal on which-said bodies of metal. around andto said feet, yet rods are laid; such fusin temp'eraturebeing I do notwish to limit myself tosuch specific a I l r I so applied to said metabodies as to prosteps nor tothe particular base plate or. chair te'ct orremove the rail heads from fusing and reinforcing bodies described, butcon- 25 'or injurious temperature. These rods of sider-myself entitledtoall such variations v metal bodies are usuall dropped one at a andmodifications'as fall within the spirit time. onto the bases 0 the tworail'ends and scope of my invention. and between the chair flanges 7t,and the 'What I claim is': I rail webs a, and are melted down, and a' Arail joint wherein the meeting feet ends so sufiicient number of suchrods or bodies are only of the rails are united by fusing and the vmelted or fused on the rail bases to form meeting rail. head are oftheir origmal temthe reinforceing plates overlying the rail per andcharacteristics and held abuttingl) ends between said flanges and webs.the united feet, said joint consisting of the The rail ends should bespaced about one meeting endsoftwo rails havin their feet 35 sixteenthof an inch (more or less) apart beends united by and integral wit 1bridging fore the application of the fusing heat. ur-v ,masses of metalfused and melted .into and ing the fusing process the rail feet willexwith said feet-by a' fusing temperature re- I vpa-nd, but the fusedmass in coolingwill draw stricted to the feet ortions ofsaid meeting,the end faces of the rail heads tightly to- 'rail ends while sai endsare spaced .apart, 40 gether and thus maintain the unbroken conwherebythe railheads are maintained reltinuity of the top surfaces of the railheads. ativcly cool and of their original temper, and

, This contraction of the fused mass in cooling whereby said, bridgingmasses of metal in i "is so strong that if the rail gheads are placedcooling drawsaid rail head ends together to v together in contact beforehp plication of the form a continuous-joint.

'- 45' fusing head, the contraction of the fused In testimonywhereofliafiix my signature,

- mass or cooling will cause the rail heads to in presence oftwowitnesses. V

bulge u at their meeting ends. This fact is EINRICH ER N ST HOFF.

,Witnesses: p

JOHN Weeiiikrna, I Louis Yaivbonn,

taken a vantage of in uniting old rails hav-' ing their heads worn orflattened at the ends, '50 as such rails can be so united as to causeup-

